Our view: Feinstein finds her voice

By the Midland Daily News

Published 9:00 am, Wednesday, March 12, 2014

It was surprising, and somewhat refreshing, to see Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., take to the Senate floor to criticize the Central Intelligence Agency, allegedly for turning its immense intelligence gathering machine on Congress.

It was surprising because Feinstein has been one of the most ardent supporters of the CIA and the National Security Agency, which has come under the gun recently because of leaks that it has gathered massive amounts of phone data, and mined it at what is known as the “meta” level for hints of terrorist attacks.

Feinstein, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, says the CIA searched congressional networks so that it could, according to the Associated Press, “review top secret documents provided for an investigation into the use of harsh interrogation techniques.”

This situation is somewhat refreshing because now Feinstein knows how millions and millions of Americans feel about having their records looked into without any knowledge of it, and without a warrant or any other check on our civil liberties.

It really does matter who’s ox is being gored.

That this is becoming separation of powers issue is even more welcomed.

“After so many years of Congress being unable or unwilling to assert its authority over the CIA, Sen. Feinstein today began to reclaim the authority of Congress as a check on the executive branch,” Christopher Alders, senior legislative counsel for the ACLU, said.

Alders went on to say that her speech is a “forceful, necessary and historic defense of the constitutional principle of separation of powers.”

It’s a good first step, but Congress shouldn’t stop there. Perhaps it could look into the legality of recess appointments and politically motivated changes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, actions that fly in the face of the legislation duly passed in Congress, among a host of other questionable decisions.

That Feinstein has found her voice gives us hope that the rogue actions across the executive branch we routinely see in Washington could some day come to end.